FAMILY TIES.

• Date: 01 March 2022
• Author: Saylor, Teri

Families or individuals own about 85% of North Carolina's farms. They play a large role in the state's agriculture industry, whose economic impact is poised to surpass $100 million.

Pick up a carton of eggs at your local grocery store, and chances are good that they were laid at Braswell Family Farms in Nash County, The nation's second-largest Eggland franchise, which also sells eggs under its Natural Choice banner, has been in the egg business for nearly a half century. "We're a fourth-generation family farm," says Trey Braswell, company president. "Our business began in 1943, when my great-great-uncle J.M. Braswell and great-grandad E.G Braswell purchased Boddie Mill."

Braswell's father, Scott, launched the family farm's egg operation in 1979. Today, Braswell Family Farms has a...